We have a new frontrunner for Captain Marvel, and we think you’ll like her

A new development in the speculation of who will star in the first MCU led solo by a female superhero: Brie Larson is reportedly the frontrunner to play Captain Marvel.

Variety posted today that she is in early talks for the role and is the studio”s first choice, though Marvel isn”t commenting on this yet.

Larson has become quite the “It Girl” lately, winning the Best Actress Oscar this year for Room and set to share the screen with Tom Hiddleston in new King Kong movie Kong: Skull Island.

Yup, this would mean two The Spectacular Now actors have gone on to play superheroes, though we hope things turn out much better for Larson than they did for Miles Teller.

The Captain Marvel standalone film is set for a Marvel 2019 release, but the Russo brothers let slip that we will also see her in one of the (formerly known as) Avengers: Infinity War movies, so we may see her the big screen as early as May 2018. Inside Out writer Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman are currently penning the script.

I”ll admit I”ve been staunchly holding onto hope that we”ll see Battlestar Galactica perennial badass Katee Sackhoff take on Carol Danvers. No other names that have cropped up – not even Emily Blunt, whom I adore, especially as she”s taken on more sci-fi roles – have won me over. Until now. I may be able to let go of my dreams of seeing Sackhoff in the role if it goes to Larson. In Room she showed all the fierceness, vulnerability, and, yes, also beauty I”d want from a Marvel leading lady.

The sad reality is Larson”s age (26) makes her a more likely contender for Captain Marvel than Sackhoff (36), especially considering Marvel will likely sign their Carol Danvers actress on for a nine-picture deal. Doesn”t seem fair when Robert Downey, Jr. has been playing Iron Man from age 42 to 50, but Hollywood isn”t fair.